Question re Kassa Coupe "Italian air cleaners"

Anybody know anything the "Italian air cleaners" on the K***a coupe, pictured below? Were these an Italmeccanica item? Part #?

Any info appreciated. If you have 3 NOS in your garage, I will mow your lawn for the next 200 years.

 

What about the spark plug covers?!

 

I use to think they were homemade but i saw a guy a few years ago carrying two of them at Hershey.....he wouldn't part with them, You could probly make a set as long as you can find a decent looking filter element, they do have a different cool look to them.

 

I don't think they were Italian. I remember seeing an ad in an old magazine for them. Probably made by Edmunds or somesuch.

 

They look like smoothed off Edmunds to me.

 

OOOHHHH! OOOOOHHH!

I know this one!

I was talking with some guys at a Sonic cruise one night and this came up somehow.

They were (are?) called Italian air cleaners and are vintage Harley air filters.

What vintage I don't know.

Start looking at cycle shiite???

 

Brush has some.
Clark

 

Thanks Rashy & Clark!

 

Mike...I doubt Brush wants to part with his. I just figured he would know more about them. I think I heard they were a JC Whitney item. Could be wrong.
Clark

 

My 1957-58 and 1960 Almquist catalogs shows them. No manufacturers name is listed but I don't think they were made by Almquist. They called them Dual "T" Aircleaners. I don't think they were available very long.

My 1956 Bell catalog lists a Hellings similar design for Strombergs and Holley 4 bbl carbs. Although they look to be a one piece stamping and not fabricated Ts as seen in the picture above.

 

They were produced by an Italian family in New Jersey (not the Sopranos) in the early '50's. The name they were marketed with was Continental High Speed aircleaners. Lucky me has three in the boxes.

 

I got a PM from a HAMBer who tells me they were called "Continental High Speed air cleaners" and were made by an Italian gent in New Jersey for a short time.

**** Beat me to it, uncle max!

 

Now what we need is for some enterprising HAMB'r to start reproducing them. It looks like a simple matter for a semi-gifted fabricator or if you have the bucks make a mould and start pouring them. Anyone going to step up?

Frank

 

Uncle Max,

Any chance of you taking some WAY BETTER pics of the things?

 

. . . I have some good pictures of my set that I'd be happy to email to anyone. If you want to post them on the HAMB, that'd be fine. And, I'm right on the verge of sending one to a patternmaker who I know and checking out the possibilty of doing a run of them. madmax1946@comcast.net . . . Looks like there might be some interest in them.

 

curiousrash@hotmail.com

I'll host 'em and post 'em.

 

i think the covers are mopar plug cover turned upsidedown.

 

I just checked my '64 Almquist catalog and they're not in there.

Figured that tidbit might help to narrow down the dates they were available.

 

Mike, PM Jeff Norwell about them. He has a set if I remember right. And I doubt that he would part with them.

 

I've seen similar air cleaners on early Ferraris. There is a pic at this link. Scroll down to see engine shots.

http://www.symbolicmotors.com/vehicledetail.php?id=141

 

The aircleaner does look likr the same as the one air cleaner I had on my 76 superglide. as others have said, they look easy enough to reproduce. A cheap tube bender, a bandsaw(or hack in a pinch), a 6 pack to the guyy you know who tig welds real nic, and a trip to the platers, and the local MC junk yard and your in.

 

Jeff - dang, those rule.

Thanks!

 

They also made one for the 4 7/32 4BBL.

I actually had the tooling and made samples from it. Thought I had first right of refusal type thing going on the tooling but it was traded by the owner to someone else. Been trying for 5 years to get the current owner to sell the tooling with no luck.

So I'm ready to do the tooling from scratch to add these to my current line of a dozen or so nostalgic air cleaners.

So many ideas, so little time..............

Dennis

 

HOWS THIS ..........

 

Thread with more info on Fordbarn - no doubt most of you lot:

http://fordbarn.com/earlyv8/forum03/messages2/5082930.html

Here's Uncle Max's engine....as posted on Fordbarn by Model-A Lady:

 

Well, I'm the guy that sold the "Italian Aircleaner" patterns that 59Buickwagon is refering to. That was almost 20 years ago. Who would have "thunk" the fifties would be hot in the 2000's. The patterns are in a secure place with other nostalgia stuff. At the time I owned the patterns the piece price quotes seemed to make these parts unrealistically priced and worked out to over $300 per set unpolished. In the 80/90's this kind of money for air cleaners would have been consided dreamland, todays $ mabey not. Dennis should mention that I also sent him samples to recast for both the 2 barrel carb and the 4 barrel carb version, after a conversation at the SEMA show this year.

The prior information is somewhat correct and indeed these air horn intakes were originally made by a fellow from NJ. They were a regional speed shop part mostly out of the NJ, NY area. While they are neat for a 50's car they weigh a ton and that reverse angle flow leaves a lot to be desired from a performance aspect. If you are into dressing up waterheaters these babies will do it. ****